Headphone Accommodations?

[sorgo †]

So, I received my AirPods Pro 2 today, and although plenty has improved (sonics) or changed (charging case), one notable thing has remained for me: the need to use Headphone Accommodations.

While offering a better starting point than the original AirPods Pro, I found that applying the same Headphone Accommodations under Accessibility settings really makes the headphones sing (literally—the mids and highs are much clearer while the bass and general low-end is far less muddy).

Here are the settings I used to clean up the sound (same ones I had used with my first-generation Pros):



Keep in mind this is all totally subjective, and that there isn’t one “right” way to enjoy your AirPods. A different Headphone Accommodations setting may work better for you, or perhaps you don’t need one at all! Maybe it’s just my hearing that is the problem here, but I would love to know if anyone else out there also has success with these settings. Do you apply them to Transparency Mode as well? Did you configure them any differently between generations of Pros?

I find Headphone Accommodations kind of fun/interesting to play around with, even if you don’t end up keeping them applied.

 

[sorgo †]

Okay, upon further listening, I’m really liking the Vocal Range tuning with Moderate emphasis. It sounds super clear, punchy, visceral, and romantic, almost like a good set of cans with an amp/DAC.

Either configuration sounds way better than the muddy default, though, that’s for sure.

 

[dubvulture]

Absolutely. I leave mine set to balanced tone, moderate. And I leave the equalizer off. Sounds way better to me.

 

[sorgo †]

Absolutely. I leave mine set to balanced tone, moderate. And I leave the equalizer off. Sounds way better to me.

Nice, I’m glad someone else gets it

 

[Lmd700]

Quick question about the eq settings , once I set it to moderate balanced tone does it stay that way across MacBook and iPad? app2 sound much better compared to the originals! thank you

 

[sorgo †]

Quick question about the eq settings , once I set it to moderate balanced tone does it stay that way across MacBook and iPad? app2 sound much better compared to the originals! thank you

I believe you may need to adjust it on each device; I just had the settings get out of sync last night across iPhone and iPad. It doesn’t hurt to check that they line up. Not sure how it works on Mac.*

*Never mind, just looked it up, and it turns out Headphone Accommodations aren’t available on macOS

 

[Lmd700]

thank you

 

[macphoto861]

This feature (and EQ) would be much more useful if it could be applied to the headphones rather than on the device, since, for instance, you might want a certain setting for the APP, and a different setting (or none at all) for the APM, forcing you to remember to manually change it on your various devices depending on what headphones you were listening through at that time. I did it for a while, but then decided it just wasn't worth the hassle (plus, as has been noted, the Headphone Accommodations feature is not even an option on the Mac).

 

[sorgo †]

This feature (and EQ) would be much more useful if it could be applied to the headphones rather than on the device, since, for instance, you might want a certain setting for the APP, and a different setting (or none at all) for the APM, forcing you to remember to manually change it on your various devices depending on what headphones you were listening through at that time. I did it for a while, but then decided it just wasn't worth the hassle (plus, as has been noted, the Headphone Accommodations feature is not even an option on the Mac).

Jeez, I’d never even thought of this as I tend to roll with one set of AirPods at a time. Looks like this feature could use some tweaking, then (along with some fleshing-out on the Mac).

 

[macphoto861]

Jeez, I’d never even thought of this as I tend to roll with one set of AirPods at a time. Looks like this feature could use some tweaking, then (along with some fleshing-out on the Mac).

Yeah, though my APM is predominantly used on Mac, and APP mostly on iPad and iPhone, I do juggle them around sometimes.

 

[Jutah]

So, I received my AirPods Pro 2 today, and although plenty has improved (sonics) or changed (charging case), one notable thing has remained for me: the need to use Headphone Accommodations.

While offering a better starting point than the original AirPods Pro, I found that applying the same Headphone Accommodations under Accessibility settings really makes the headphones sing (literally—the mids and highs are much clearer while the bass and general low-end is far less muddy).

Here are the settings I used to clean up the sound (same ones I had used with my first-generation Pros):

View attachment 2079168

Keep in mind this is all totally subjective, and that there isn’t one “right” way to enjoy your AirPods. A different Headphone Accommodations setting may work better for you, or perhaps you don’t need one at all! Maybe it’s just my hearing that is the problem here, but I would love to know if anyone else out there also has success with these settings. Do you apply them to Transparency Mode as well? Did you configure them any differently between generations of Pros?

I find Headphone Accommodations kind of fun/interesting to play around with, even if you don’t end up keeping them applied.

Same setup here.
The voices literally open up. Love it.

I turned off Spotify EQ (which I use in the previous Airpod Pro) and use balanced tone in “soft” mode.

 

[Jutah]

Which audio player do you prefer? I have a Spotify premium account but i seems that a lot of audio files have a medium quality audio. Don’t know how to explain exactly.

 

[sorgo †]

Which audio player do you prefer? I have a Spotify premium account but i seems that a lot of audio files have a medium quality audio. Don’t know how to explain exactly.

I mush prefer Apple Music, especially with the addition of lossless-quality audio last year. I know not everyone can tell a difference but I certainly can, even over Bluetooth. While not “true” lossless by any stretch everything just sounds fuller, crisper, and certainly higher-definition than the now-standard 256kbps bitrate.

How about you, @dubvulture?

 

[dubvulture]

I don’t use Spotify or Apple Music. I’m a cheapskate without unlimited cellular data. I store my music locally. Currently I have 125 gigs on device. Mostly 256 or 320 mp3 and aac files. So I just use the native Music app.

I really can’t hear a difference between a well encoded mp3/aac and a lossless file. To me the engineering and mastering are far more important. Then again, I suffer from tinnitus, so.